Members

Mission / Objectives of Department

The department is committed to developing all
students of the school to be effective and competent communicators who appreciate
and enjoy the English Language. The department also strives to develop all the
teachers of the English Language and/or English Literature to possess subject
mastery and deliver effectively innovative teaching strategies. In achieving
this, the school would be recognised as a hub for effective and innovative
teaching of the subjects.

Students are expected to acquire different learning objectives at various
stages of their secondary school course. Generally, these objectives fall into
four domains of learning:

Communication and Language Development

Thinking Skills

Learning How to Learn

Language and Culture

Through these and the myriad
of learning opportunities and approaches, it is with hope that students develop
21st century competencies which will make them a confident person, a
self-directed learner, an active contributor and a concerned citizen.

2) MEDAL Programme for lower sec studentsMEDAL: Mastering English,
Drama, the Art of Communication and Literature. The MEDAL programme in Dunman
Secondary School is a reaction to the challenges that students still face in
learning, mainly language competency and independent thinking. In 2007, a
half-year programme called MEL, Music-English Language-Literature, was rolled
out to allow students to acquire a love for Literature and language through
Music. The students performed musicals of Singapore folklores in Secondary One.
Following several critical observations, the programme was refined and thus,
the birth of MEDAL- a comprehensive two year programme.

With the rationale in mind,
MEDAL represents an integration of the performing arts into the Lower Secondary
curriculum so that language learning is made meaningful. MEDAL also proves to
be an instrument for the explicit teaching of 21st century competencies as
students evolve to become critical and inventive thinkers who collaborate and
communicate effectively in their exploration of set socio-cultural
contexts.

The MEDAL curriculum is paced.
The Secondary One students explore language and Literature texts such as Little
Ironies and are given platforms to share their critical appreciation of texts
and poems with their peers. At Secondary Two, students explore language through
Drama with greater demands to performance delivery and language.

MEDAL is exploratory, an
effort to "open a new frontier in our exploration of good teaching".
(Palmer) It will not be a stranger to established teaching practices. What it
will develop into is practical and effective pedagogy bearing semblances to the
old but fuelled by the hearts of its teachers to cultivate thinking
learners.

3) Reading Programme

Every morning before the
commencement of the flag raising ceremony at the parade ground, all students
engage in silent reading. Each level has a subscribed reading text and these
subscribed text also serve as a learning resource during the EL curriculum
time.

Activities

1) Learning Journeys

The department strives to
enrich the students' learning experience beyond the confines of the classroom
and learning journeys will be planned for the students along the year as and
when appropriate. The Literature Learning journey will be organised for sec 3
Lit students.

2) Speak Good English and Live(L)it Week

During the annual Speak Good
English Week and Live(L)it Week a plethora of exciting activities are lined up
for the students to encourage them to converse and write good and proper
English and to spark a love for Literature. Some of these include
cohort-based language games and activities, talks by local writers, book fairs
by vendors and internal competitions. The yearly affair culminates with the
much anticipated event: Books Come Alive@Dunman. Dunman undergoes a vibrant
transformation each year when students and teachers alike don the outfits of
famous characters from literary books, impersonating their chosen characters
both in appearance and behaviour.

3) Competitions and courses

- Commonwealth Essay Writing
Competition: Selected students will participate in this competition.- Other ad-hoc external and
internal competitions.- Sec 1 Oral Communication
course conducted by an external vendor after school.